Heard about Earth Hour? Tomorrow, March 28, from 8:30 pm until 9:30 pm (local time) is your chance to vote to "save the Earth" by turning off all your lights and not using electricity.

But there's something ironic about the message coming from the official Earth Hour Web site. Not only does this advice actually sounds a little dangerous--because it's just not a good idea to wander around your house in the dark--but the Web site is encouraging people to "photo, video, blog, and twitter" the event! (There is no mention of setting the DVR so you don't miss your shows...)

So let me get this straight. I should juice up the batteries for my camera, camcorder, laptop, and mobile phone, and if I do this before 8:30 pm and then chronicle the event, I'm doing my part to save the planet? And I'm not actually sure what I could say, other than, "I'm sitting in a dark, cold room."

How does any of this help the planet? Trying to use more energy-efficient devices and turning the lights off when you aren't in the room is good. Sitting in the dark at night for no particular reason beyond solidarity doesn't save anything.

But given that Yahoo and Google are involved in this event--and respectively, own Flickr and YouTube, where users have been encouraged to post photos and videos--this might not be so much about going green as it is another way for these tech companies to make some green.

About the Author

Carol Mangis manages the PC Magazine Digital Edition and PCMag on Medium. Her very first job in tech journalism was at PC Magazine (does anyone remember "After Hours"?), and she has also worked at Consumer Reports as an electronics editor.

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.